


Savior

by sunsetsuho



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, F/M, Guitarist Lance, M/M, Singer Lance, broganes, drummer keith, fun?, keith is gay, lance is bi, no langst omf, whoooo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-11-02 02:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10935522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetsuho/pseuds/sunsetsuho
Summary: Keith finds a masked guitarist. He finds himself falling too quickly for a man who's face is always covered by a mask.As luck would have it, maybe there's some good to this.---In other words, the band au fic no one asked for but you're getting anyway.





	1. First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title of fic is the name of a song by rise against. it's a really good song! check out savior by rise against.

The trill of fingers dancing across the neck of the guitar captured the crowd’s eyes, captivating the listener’s ears in an instant. Keith saw the grin. The man on stage knew exactly what he was doing. That confidence made Keith smile, eyes taking in the form of the man who was pouring his heart through his fingers, touching all that was near, all that was within ear-shot. The man’s back arched as he drilled his passion into the listeners, ignoring the head-banging, ignoring the hands waving in the air.

 

Keith found his hand tapping along to the beat, finding sure notes and finding sure melodies. He found the tempo, he found the rhythm. Seeing the man up there made his fingers itch. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see the man’s eyes. It didn’t matter he couldn’t see what the man’s real face looked like. He was hidden behind a cat like mask with intricate blue markings, of what, Keith wasn’t sure. Keith could feel the man’s personality from his playing. It seemed to thrum with his own personal being. Keith felt the song change more than he heard it. Mellow, his pulse calmed down. He felt like he had just taken a breathe of fresh air, like the guitar wasn’t suffocating him. A repetition of chords soothed him.

 

A soft voice destroyed him. “I feel it everyday, it’s all the same. It brings me down, but I’m the one to blame.” It was a pure electric guitar and vocal cover. Keith knew this song from the bottom of his heart. His fingers ached. He mouthed the words. His heart pounded with the beat.

 

Keiths eyes suddenly made contact with the masked-man. At least, it appeared like he did. He ignored the way the man’s eyes were a lot like his music, like his playing. His voice caught as the man held his gaze, drawling out the next words. “Over and over, I fall for you. Over and over, over and over, I try not to.” His voice reaches a new softness, his pitch lighter at the end. It sent chills down the back of Keith’s neck to his spine. In most cases, Keith would always argue: _the original is always better!_ But this, for some strange reason, made him question that mentality.

 

Keith feels heat travel from his cheeks to his neck. It was suddenly very stuffy inside the room. _I gotta get out of here._ Placing a few bills on the bar, he pushed through the crowd to get outside. Everyone was too close now.

 

The familiar chords rang in his head, even as he stood outside of the pub. The cool wind nipped at his nose and his cheeks, slowly reducing the pink tint his face and neck had taken on. In the back of his mind, he still saw the mystery guitarist.

 

\---

 

“Are you sure you’re alright, Keith? This is the seventh plate you’ve broken today. Maybe you should take a break or something,” Shiro placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder, “It’s not very busy out there right now, and we’ve already have plenty of plates. Why don’t you sit down for a bit?” Shiro placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, raising a concerned eyebrow. “You can go home if you need to, too, you know. It’s not going to be busy today. At least, it hasn’t been yet. I’m sure we can do without you.”

 

Keith could feel the way worry rolled off of Shiro in waves. “Really, I’m fine, Shiro. My fingers just keep slipping. That’s it.”

 

“This isn’t about the guitar boy, is it Keith?” The shit-eating grin that was heard in his teasing voice made Keith flush. He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact. “Oh. _Oh._ It is, isn’t it? It’s been a week since then, Keith. Why don’t you just go back? Listen to him one more time.”

 

“You don’t understand, Shiro! We had eye contact! I can’t go _back._ I’ll make a fool outta myself!” Keith groaned, resting his head against the counter. Keith ignored Shiro’s sigh. “Don’t you give me that look! You can’t even talk to Allura without stuttering! You even call her ‘Princess’,” Keith huffed, turning his head just so he can see the blush cover Shiro’s face.

 

“At least I can talk to her! You can’t even maintain _eye contact_!” Shiro defended himself, nose scrunched up.

 

“That-I- Fuck you.” Keith ignored his brothers smirk, one that was saved for only when he knew he had won. “Fine. I’ll go back. Only _once_ though! No more!”

 

“I didn’t say anything about more.” Shiro looked smug, raising an eyebrow. “Now hurry up, out! Before you break another plate!” Keith grumbled as he stumbled his way out of the back of the restaurant, passing by the other workers. “Don’t forget condoms!”

 

“Shut the- Shut the FUCK up, Shiro!” Keith closed the back door behind him, briefly remembering that he hadn’t changed out of his clothes, nor signed out. _Whatever. I’ll text Shiro to do it later._ He yawned as he walked to his bike, sitting peacefully in the alleyway. Usually, he would get in trouble for leaving it there, but the manager wasn’t there that day. _Score._

 

Keith breathed in deeply, feeling his muscles relax as he climbed onto the bike. His fingers wrapped around the throttle and clutch. The cool metal felt nice against him. He took a moment to just enjoy how relaxed it made him feel. Keith hummed softly, before finally his bike upright, and twisting the throttle. He felt the bikes rumbling go through him, sending a nice splurge of energy to pass through him.   _Now, this is what I call nice._ Keith raced out of the alleyway, feeling the air flowing through his hair. It’s one of the reasons why he refuses to cut it. As he rode, he finds himself humming a familiar song. He’s not quite sure why he knows it, but, he decided it’s kind of nice.

 

Having stopped at a red light, he searches his head for the songs he knew that he had listened to recently. None of the songs seemed to fit, however. Keith shrugged, twisting the throttle once more. He’ll think about it later.

 

\---

 

The thought of seeing the mystery guitar dude had Keith pacing his room, his body unable to calm itself down. The clock showed a simple: 7:20 pm on it. _That’s too early to go to a club, isn’t it? Way too early. Fuck. I wanna go now._

 

Keith searches the whole house for something to do. He spots the drumset in the corner of the living room. (It was their parents old house. Keith and Shiro had been living in an apartment when their parents decided they wanted to move someplace else. So they gave the house to the boys. Keith and Shiro only wished they had the same type of money their parents did.)

 

Keith wondered if he could still play. During high school, he and few friends had gone through the ‘I-wanna-be-famous’ phase, and he had worked his ass off to buy a drum set. They did learn and even did a talent show. They didn’t end up winning but they were runner up. Then junior and senior year came by and they were all too busy with fixing bad choices from freshman year to meet up together and practice. It had been upsetting, but he understood. He didn’t stop practicing by himself, either. At least, he hadn’t until him and Shiro had moved out to go to college nearby.  Living in apartments where the walls were thin, Keith hadn’t been able to practice as much as he wanted to anymore. And as he much as he wanted to, it would be rude. So he had simply drifted away from the hobby.

       

However, there were times, much like then, where Keith felt the urge to reintroduce himself to the talent. Keith stared hard at the drumsticks that were sitting in the small container he always kept there. For a moment, they seemed to be calling him. Like they were saying, _come on, come play with me._

       

Keith sighed, he was going crazy wasn’t he? There was no way they could talk. He stared a few moments at them. Right? When the drumsticks were completely silent, as they had been the whole time, he groaned. He was going insane. But, he figured, might as well go crazy while doing something he liked.

       

Making his way across the living room, Keith plucked the drumsticks from the miniature basket and sat down at the stool, cracking his knuckles.

 

He tapped the drumstick lightly against the high tom, getting a slow feel for the beat he was setting up for himself. It wasn’t actually part of the song, it was just something he did to get himself ready for beat.  Finally getting used to it, he smiled. Tapping his drumsticks against the hi hats, his foot pressed upon the bass drum step, closing his eyes. This part was slow, giving him a few seconds to himself as he played. This continued on for a few more beats, before he began hitting the snare drum faster, when the beat suddenly changed.

 

He had watched Tokyo Ghoul enough times to be able to memorize the opening to it, and listened to said opening enough to know how to play it without hearing the song along side it. That was a bit embarrassing, Keith would admit, but he couldn’t even begin the care about that.

 

Keith continued with his playing, switching from song to song. Ones he knew by memory, and ones he just improvised with.

 

The door opening drew Keith out of his jam session. Shiro walked through the front door, startling slightly when he noticed Keith. A grin spread on his lips when he realized where he was sitting. “Guitar Boy got you so worked up that you picked up the drumsticks again?” His voice was positively teasing, eyebrow raised to further the effect.

 

Keith flushed, faking a cough. “No. I just happened to miss the drums.” He knew his argument was flawed, but he couldn’t help it if the mystery man’s voice made his need to drum even more excessive. The sudden thought of the mystery man had him nearly cracking his neck from how quick he turned it. It was already 10 o’clock!

 

“Uh huh, sure-” Shiro grinned before pursing his lips. “What’s got you in a rush,” he asked as Keith tried desperately to find his socks.

 

“Ugh, didn’t realize it got this late.” Keith groaned, unable to find those damn socks. He turns to look at Shiro. He spotted the socks near him. He motioned to them, “Hey, can you toss me those?”

 

“Uh, sure. Still didn’t answer my question though.” Shiro reached for  the socks, before tossing them at Keith. He laughed when it hit his brother in the face.  His laugh cut short when he had a sudden realization. “You’re going to see Guitar Dude, aren’t you?”

 

Keith froze where he was, eyes wide. “Uh, no? I’m going out for a jog.” He said hesitantly.

 

“Oh my god. You’re totally going to go see Guitar Dude. Wait. Don’t forget condoms and-”

 

“Nope! Nope, nope, nope! No, thank you!” Keith hissed, voice raising in pitch significantly. He rushed out of the house, grabbing his shoes on the way out. “I’ll be back later!”

 

By the time he managed to make it down the block, his feet were aching from the cold concrete. He sat down on the ground, using this time to not only regain his lost breath, but also put on his socks and shoes. He _really_ didn’t want to get a cold.

 

A sudden hand reached down and a very concerned cute boy was attached to it. “Are you okay?”

  
And Keith knew that, in that moment, that voice was too familiar for him to be comfortable with. It only took a few more seconds to realize where it was from. _Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so!!! the drum cover of unravel i used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtVG3AEXG50  
> and the song lance was singing was over and over by three days grace. hope you enjoyed. see you in like 2 weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes, Keith wished he was better at human interaction. It was like his brain just short circuited, and really, it wasn’t very flattering. This was definitely one of those times. 

Keith laughed awkwardly, unsure of whether he should take the man’s hand or not. “Uh, yeah. I’m. I’m fine.  Perfectly, uh, fine. You know. Never been better, bro.” The moment the word was out of his mouth, Keith wanted nothing less than death.   _ Let me burn, _ he hissed in his own mind.

Mystery Boy raised an eyebrow before pulling his hand away.  “You’re not, like, drunk, are you? Sorry, but I don’t take care of drunk people. I have to deal with those idiots every night anyway.” He rambled, standing straight once again.

“No, I’m… I’m not drunk.” At the disbelieving look he received, he flushed. “No, really. Not an ounce of alcohol in me. I was just… uh.  I wasn’t expecting you- well not you specifically, of course, but I wasn’t expecting you,  as in a person, to come and offer help. Thank you for that.”  _ Okay, I made it through that without calling him pretty. This was a good start. _

Of course Mystery Boy just had to ruin that for poor Keith. He let out the single most beautiful laugh Keith had ever heard. And considering he lived with Shiro, it was truly a wonder. Keith watched in wonder, before far too quickly, he felt his cheeks burn. He looked down. He didn’t want to be caught watching him after all. He could only take so much humiliation in one night. He struggled with his socks for a brief moment, before managing to it on. He continued with the other food.

“Now, can I ask why you you’re out here barefoot?” Mystery boy asked. Keith willed himself not to look up. Beauty like his wasn’t fair.

“Well, my brother was making condom jokes. I wasn’t really ready for it.” He hummed, pulling on his tennis shoes next. Once he was finished, he stood up quickly. He brushed off all the dirt and grind that had stuck to the back of his pants and his legs.

“You… ran out of your house because your brother was making jokes?” Mystery Boy asked, incredulous. Then he began laughing, his shoulders shaking from the force of his laughter. Keith found himself chuckling along with him, finding the boy in front of him just so beautiful. His heart beated heavily in his chest. It was so unfamiliar. So foreign. Keith never wanted it to stop.

Keith shifted from one foot to the other and tried to think of something to say to the brown-skinned beauty. “Hey, do you, uh… wanna hang out or something. I was just gonna go to the bar and…”  _ try to find you. _ He left out the last part.

“I don’t know man, I’m hard to entertain.” Mystery Boy winked and cracked a grin. “Joking. But really, I don’t even know your name.”

“Keith! Keith Shirogane. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Lance. Lance Fernandes. Pleasure’s all mine.” Lance-  _ god his name was Lance! _ \- smoothly answered. Keith raised an eyebrow at that, but let it stand.

“So, what d’ya say? Wanna hang?” Keith felt awkward saying those words.

Lance shrugged, before nodding. “Yeah, why not? Oh, wait. I uh, I gotta gig tonight. I was actually on my way there, right now… You wanna come?”

And bless his poor soul,  Keith couldn’t do anything but agree. “Yeah..” He trails off, before chuckling, “yeah, that sounds good.”

\----

There were moments when Keith questioned himself. When he was at the foodcourt, he’d ask himself,  _ do I really need this double chocolate ice cream?  _ He’d ask himself, knowing full well he was lactose intolerant.

This was one of those moments. The reason? The man next to him who couldn’t stop talking. “-It was like that one time my aunt swallowed a needle! It was totally insane! So while I was freaking out, she was just saying, ‘Ay, Mijo, stop worrying. I’ll just cough it up.’ Like,  _ no,  _ you cannot just cough up the damn needle, please. It was terrifying! Well, at the time. At least now, it’s not so bad. Shit, uh. I hope I’m not boring you,” Lance rambled, talking animatedly with his hands, “I don’t usually talk this much, I swear but-”

“Hey, no, you’re fine”  _ more than fine, actually,  _ He thinks, eyeing the way Lance brightened up. Ah, his heart was too weak for this. “your family sounds really interesting. I don’t have that many stories about my family. It’s fun to hear about other people’s.”

“Oh.” Lance blinked, a soft smile on his face. “Well, I never run out of stories. It’s one of the perks of having a huge family.” Lance quieted, and an easy silence flowed between the two of them. Keith took a moment to admire the way the dim street lights made Lance seem all the more softer.

Keith sighed. He didn’t know why he was so obsessed with this guy. He never crushed of people so easy; they were usually after he had seen them multiple times. He wondered why Lance was so different.

Lance suddenly turned to Keith quickly as he pointed to a cafe, grinning from ear to ear. “Well! Here we are!” He hooked an arm around Keith’s, dragging him into the quaint cafe.  _ Blue Lion _ was the name of the cafe, the lettering of it’s sign in a beautiful cursive. Keith had a feeling he was going to like this place.

\---

He wasn’t wrong. The furniture and walls had a similar theme- blue and white, with an undertone of gray’s here and there. The place was immediately cozy, to him and it was strange. As he was looking around, he spotted familiar white hair. He pursed his lips, before letting Lance drag him over to the counter. Allura turned around and expressed a look of shock when she saw Keith.

“Oh, Keith! It’s been a while!” She inquired, a bright smile on her face. “How have you and Shiro been?”

Keith would have to remember to mention this to Shiro, just to rub it in his face. “Ah, yeah, it has been a while, huh. We’ve been good! Nothing really new has happened recently. It’s great.”

Lance jumped in, confused. “You two know each other?” Keith had momentarily forgotten that he was still holding onto his arm.

Allura smiled knowingly. “Of course! Keith’s brother is a good friend of mine!” She paused, before realizing she had yet to take their order. “Gosh, I don’t know what came over me. What would you two like?” 

Keith frowned as he stared at the menu that was above Allura’s head. He didn’t really understand what a few of the drinks were, so he just settled for something that he actually knew. “I’ll just have a regular black coffee.” He laughed at Lance’s face of disgust. “What? It’s not _that_ bitter.”

Lance grumbled a, “yes it is,” before ordering, “I’ll have a mocha latte.” He began pulling out his wallet to pay, but Allura tutted.

“No, no, it’s on the house.” At their confused look, she grinned, “Have fun on your date!” She shooed them away before they could argue that this was  _ not _ a date. Keith flushed at the thought of actually scoring a date with Lance. They chose a small table in the corner to sit down, just to talk a bit.

Lance stared at Keith, eyebrows furrowed. Keith tried not to make eye contact with him, but it was hard to not when he was staring so obviously. He let out a nervous chuckle as he tried to calm his flush. Even with the weird look on his face, Lance was cute. Keith quite actually wanted to die.  _ This isn’t fair. _

As the staring continued for a minute more, Keith was done. “Uh, Lance? Why’re you staring at me?”

Lance grinned, shrugging. “No reason.” He stuck his tongue out at him, and then quickly left his seat.

Keith watched in bewilderment as Lance shot out of his seat. He hadn’t heard Allura call their name, so it wasn’t like their drinks were done yet. At least, he didn’t think so. He may have missed it. But still, Lance didn’t need to run out of his chair like that. Keith fiddled with his fingers as he waited for Lance. Luckily, he didn’t need to wait long.

Lance came back with their coffees, and something else in his hand. The grin on his face was absolutely shiteating. Keith was concerned for his own wellbeing.  _ What’s he going to do with those… Are those fucking cat ears? _

Lance set the two coffee’s down, before turning around to slip on the cat ears. He grinned, before winking, “how do I look?”

Keith deadpanned, “I think you look like a furry.” Keith inhaled, holding in the words he really wanted to say,  _ I think you look really cute. _ He just smiled at the pouting Lance was doing. This was nice.


End file.
